Amex Centurion Lounge SEA: Crowded as Duck!

After the flight from SJU-NYC-JFK which was cheap on points but taxing on my health, I finally made it to Sea-Tac the day of the 2018 Freddy Awards. The first stop was the Amex Centurion Lounge at SEA. And let me tell you, that place is a zoo. Walking in, I noticed how small the lounge is. I also was told that there was not a full service kitchen, so the dream of being the Fat Guy at the Lounge was dead upon arrival. The bar, on the other hand, was full-service, so the opportunity to be a Douche at the Lounge was very possible.

Seating

If you find a seat, set up a barricade with your bags to make sure that no one takes it. Seating is limited. Take what you can get.

Eating

Soup and weird salads will have to be enough for the cheap lounge goer (wise traveler) with an appetite. There were small sandwiches as well, tempting me to take the whole tray and binge at my barricaded seat.

Drinks

Centurion LGA has the best drinks. Centurion IAH has the worst. Centurion SEA is somewhere in the middle. I tried a blue one and a brown one.

The Black Card

If you have a black card, who do you think you are, Fat Joe? But, if you do, you have reserved seats throughout the lounge and one with a view of the pretty planes.

Overall

Centurion Lounges are better than standard domestic lounges. However, the size of the lounges have not increased with the popularity. That doesn’t mean that I won’t stop in whether I’m coming or going. It just means that I have to be strategic with my seating, eating, and drinking experience.

I was in the SFO lounge twice last week (5.00 pm); standing room only and a bunch of extremely rowdy travelers. The bar is crowded; the drinks are small. The food is good, though. Would be nice to have some snacks (a la Admirals and United clubs).

I also like the one at LAS. Their food selection in the evening is always good with many different choices (hot and cold) and they rotate it continuously. Bar selections are fine however, I either drink wine or champagne, both of which are better than most standard lounges.

I’ve tried using the lounge at SEA a few times this year and had to leave. It is tiny and noisy with a staff that can be quite condescending. It’s hard to believe AmEx has the audacity to brand this space and treatment when compared to the spaciousness and graciousness of the adjacent Delta and Alaska lounges, which honor AmEx Platinum cards too!

The SEA Lounge opened originally as the Centurion Studio, which was even smaller as it did not contain the bar (view) area at all! Those of us in Seattle saw Alaska’s Lounges improve with its arrival, though, so we are grateful. The Centurion also has a good selection of free newspapers and magazines. They should have opened their lounge in the North Satellite, where it is more needed by Alaska travelers, but AMEX and DL are allies, so the AMEX lounge is located only steps from the DL, which seems redundant.
The only other Centurion Lounge I’ve visited is in Houston. I thought that it, and its hot entrees, were excellent…though the lounge itself is not easy to locate.